scat

Hazel is 22 1/2 months now. we have tried to potty train her on at least three separate occasions. the other girls were potty trained around 20 months, so this is frustrating, but at the same time we have less and less time to devote to the process now. the upshot is that we are out every morning in diapers and every afternoon they get removed and we dodge a slew of toddler potties scattered all around the floors of the rooms of our house.

last night after the kids were asleep while cleaning up the playroom I glanced down and found a full potty that had gone unnoticed for who knows how long. that was a few minutes after I found a smudge of poop on the living room rug. such is our glamorous life these days. without Nature's Miracle we would not survive.

still, there are small moments of grace. the girls have figured out how to play a game with granddad on "face time" calls during dinner. they "feed" him a bite and he opens his mouth wide and draws the phone in for a close up of his mouth. paroxysms of laughter every freaking time.

and yesterday, when Juniper "won" an MNM for getting dressed before the timer went off, and she tried to bite it in two to give half to Clementine (who did not make it by the timer).

or suddenly out of the blue this morning while getting ready when Hazel, wearing a diaper, said "potty," pulled off her diaper, sat down on the potty, and actually went.

never before has the concept of small victories felt so resonant.